A sampling of retailers, takeout businesses, pharmacies, convenience stores, and food stores shows half are violating Philadelphia’s ordinance that bans plastic bags and requires a fee on paper bags.
That’s according to the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, which sent members to purchase items in 80 stores across the city and in neighborhoods with varying demographics.
The nonprofit advocacy group’s survey found:
55% of businesses violated at least one key provision of the law.
50% of businesses failed to charge a 10-cent fee on paper or reusable bags.
20% of businesses provided plastic bags that have been illegal for years.
Faran Savitz, a zero-waste advocate for PennEnvironment, said during a news conference Thursday outside City Hall that the group didn’t just scrutinize chain stores like Wawa, although those larger operations were generally compliant.
He said the 80 stores surveyed were chosen to represent multiple types in all neighborhoods, although they amount to only a fraction of businesses in the city,
“We wanted to look at as many different types of businesses and hit as many different neighborhoods in the city as possible, so we could get a sense of is this concentrated on one neighborhood or is it spread geographically everywhere,” Savitz said. “We found that this is a pretty widespread problem.”
Charts from a survey of stores conducted by the nonprofit advocacy group PennEnvironment show what the report calls widespread noncompliance of Philadelphia’s revised plastic bag law that went into effect in January 2026.
Savitz said that chain stores tend to know the law and its requirements. Many small businesses remain unaware.
However, the survey did highlight some positive momentum. Currently, three-quarters of surveyed businesses no longer distribute plastic bags. That’s a significant improvement from the group’s previous investigations that caught half of all stores providing them.
The city’s updated bag ordinance
Philadelphia’s original plastic bag law, introduced by Councilmember Mark Squilla, was passed in 2019 but was phased in slowly. It went into full effect in 2021.
After that, paper bag usage skyrocketed, said Squilla, who represents the 1st District, including parts of South Philadelphia, Center City, and the River Wards. Although paper bags are biodegradable, they require more energy to produce and the cutting down of trees.
Squilla introduced an updated bag ordinance last year, which was approved by City Council, and went into effect in January. It required a 10-cent fee on paper bags.
The goal of the fee, Squilla said, is to change shoppers’ behavior and get them to bring reusable bags to the store.
Squilla called the violations found by PennEnvironment “disappointing,” but said he knew compliance would be a challenge.
“Our goal is to end single-use plastic bags in our waste stream and in the city of Philadelphia,” Squilla said.
To close the compliance gap, PennEnvironment is urging Licenses and Inspections to improve education and enforcement, and asking residents to report noncompliant businesses to the city’s 311 system.
Faran Savitz (left) of PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center and Philadelphia Councilmember Mark Squilla, at lectern, discuss PennEnvironment’s findings outside City Hall on July 9.
Plastic bags
Ryan Rabenold, environmental program coordinator at the Pennsylvania Resources Council, said the city’s law is key to reducing waste, noting that most reusable plastic bags do not get recycled.
Plastic bags contribute to litter, require fossil fuels to produce, and become microplastics in the environment when they break down.
“They either get lost in the system, are contaminated with food or grease, which makes them unrecyclable, or they simply get blown away when we’re trying to collect them,” Rabenold said. “When they do end up in our recycling system … they contaminate materials that are recyclable and force them to be removed from the system.”
Rabenold noted that microplastics have been detected in human blood and tissue.
“We are feeling the impacts of something that we may not be able to see, Rabenold said.
“It’s better for our health and the environment to use one thing 1,000 times,” Rabenold said of reusable bags, “rather than use 1,000 things once.”
The first week of July has typically been one of Philadelphia’s most violent, with recent Independence Day weekends marked by mass shootings, police officers shot, and bursts of violence that left a dozen dead.
But this year, amid a dramatic decline in violence and a flood of visitors to the city, the holiday weekend was noticeably calmer than in years past, offering another encouraging sign that the dramatic decline in shootings held through one of its toughest tests.
Twenty-three people were shot from July 1 through July 7 — a slightly higher total than most weeks in 2026, but nearly half the average number of shooting victims during the same period over the last decade, according to city data. In 2021, at the height of the city’s gun violence crisis, more than 70 people were shot in that week alone.
If the current pace continues, Philadelphia is on track to record fewer than 200 homicides for the first time since the 1960s, a remarkable turnaround from just five years ago, when nearly three times as many people were killed.
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Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said in an interview that the July Fourth weekend is historically one of the most challenging for urban police departments.
Bethel said he and other city, state, and federal law enforcement officials spent about two years planning for this holiday weekend, preparing for potential crises that never came.
Anticipating hundreds of thousands of visitors for FIFA Club World Cup events and the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations, the department canceled many officers’ vacation requests over the last month and, on the Fourth, deployed more than 2,000 members of local and state law enforcement across the city, he said.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel, speaks at a press conference on the details for the Roots Picnic in May 2026.
Reinforcements from the Pennsylvania State Police and neighboring municipalities helped the city maintain staffing levels in neighborhoods that have historically seen more violence, Bethel said. Officers worked in the record-breaking heat, he said, with some starting their shifts at 7 a.m. and clocking out only after the concert on the Parkway ended at 3 a.m.
The FBI took the lead on monitoring the skies, Bethel said, intercepting several drones that were flying illegally. (None of the drones, he said, was flying with “nefarious” intent.)
He called the weekend a validation of the city’s planning and broader work that has contributed to the decline in gun violence.
“I can’t tell you how many people grabbed me and said they felt welcomed and felt safe,” he said of the events over the last month. “Let’s own the win. Let’s not hide from it.”
Bethel also said there had been no acts of violence around the approximately two dozen bars that were approved to stay open until 4 a.m. from June 11 to July 19 to accommodate crowds attending the FIFA, July Fourth, and MLB All-Star celebrations.
“We’re seeing zero issues,” he said.
Soccer fans gather to watch Mexico play South Africa on a giant screen during the opening day of the FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill on Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Philadelphia.
The reduction in violence over the holiday weekend fits a broader pattern. Shootings and homicides in the city began to decline in 2023, mirroring a national trend, and have continued to fall. So far this year, 90 people have been killed in homicides — less than a third of the number recorded at the same time three years ago, according to police data.
Just as there was no clear explanation for the spike in crime that began in 2019, criminologists and law enforcement officials say, it is similarly difficult to pinpoint the reasons for its decline. But there are theories: an overall return to normal life after the pandemic, expanded community-based violence prevention programs, more arrests in shootings and homicides, and targeted prosecutions of some of the city’s most violent gangs.
One measurable change has been the police department’s improved clearance rates, which researchers have long viewed as a potential deterrent to future violence.
The homicide clearance rate — the share of killings solved, including arrests made this year in both new and older cases — has climbed to nearly 99%, up from about 47% in 2022. The clearance rate for nonfatal shootings has risen to about 41%, roughly double what it was in 2021.
Bethel said those arrests take would-be shooters and victims off the streets and interrupt cycles of violence.
“We’re impacting retaliation, we’re impacting somebody being shot again, we’re impacting someone who may shoot and kill somebody,” he said.
Jeff Asher, a New Orleans-based national crime analyst, said because the decline is likely driven by many programs and societal changes, it is hard to know what will sustain the progress.
“I keep expecting [the crime rate] to stop falling, and it’s just not,” he said in an interview. “So, maybe this is the new normal. We just can’t say with a ton of confidence.”
Still, the quieter weekend was not wholly peaceful.
Three men were killed between Friday and Monday morning, leaving families and neighbors to mourn loved ones even as the city showed signs of sustained progress.
On Monday morning, Shawn Caddell, 32, was killed during a robbery inside a Logan beer deli, police said. And on Sunday, two men were slain in areas that have long been hot spots for shootings: Emanuel Aguirre, 27, was fatally shot in the Hunting Park section of North Philadelphia, and Donald McPhaul, 51, was gunned down on Salford Street in West Philadelphia.
A 16-year-old in South Philadelphia was among more than a dozen people who were shot and survived.
Philadelphia police examine a car with a bullet hole after a man was fatally shot along the 500 block of East Wyoming Avenue on July 5, 2026.
Bethel said the pockets of the city that have long experienced higher rates of violence — and that continue to see shootings, albeit fewer, today — remain a priority.
“We are never going to give up in those communities,” he said. “We are going to keep working in those areas.”
Recent polls have found that a majority of Philadelphians have noticed the decline and feel safer. But for residents on blocks where shootings remain a recurring threat, a citywide trend line can feel distant from daily life.
Chantay Love, president of the victim-advocacy organization EMIR Healing Center, said the communitiesseeing recurring violence are still grappling with “the trauma and collateral damage that is left behind” from the last six years.
Linda Days, 72, who lives in the area, said the shooting that killed McPhaul was another reminder of the violence she has come to expect since moving there seven years ago from Olney.
Standing in her doorway on Tuesday, Days said it feels as if gunfire has become part of the soundtrack outside her home. But during the Fourth of July weekend, she said, she is especially careful to stay inside.
“I don’t even come out to watch the fireworks,” she said.
As the most popular dinner reservation times trend earlier and daycaps (aka late afternoon drinks) replace post-dinner cocktails, some Philadelphia bars and restaurants are forgoing happy hour for something with a chiller, convivial vibe: aperitivo.
A longstanding European tradition, aperitivo — which means “to open” in Italian — refers to the late afternoon and early evening hours ripe for lighter-paced drinking and snacking. While other countries have their own words for it (“apéro” in France, “la hora del Vermut” in Spain), the menu always includes fortified wines, bittersweet cocktails and liqueurs, and small bites meant to stimulate appetites.
The ritual is a natural fit for Philadelphia, the so-called “Frenchest city in America,” and its rise of Euro-American-inspired bars and restaurants. Operators are leaning into food-driven aperitivo hours to stretch out the day longer and cater to diners that are going home earlier and drinking less. Signature aperitivo drinks — classic negronis, savory vermouths, and bittersweet amaris — aren’t as heavy or fast-paced as half-priced beer and shot specials, and often come with sidecars of salty snacks, like cured meats, olives, and bread. Others, like an Aperol spritz or an Americano perfecto (a spaghett-style cocktail with beer, Vermouth, Campari, and an orange slice), tend to be lower in ABV.
People are “drinking earlier, coming right from work, and getting a small spritz, a snack, and then going to dinner,” said Benjamin Kirk, the beverage director at Michelin-key Hotel Anna & Bel, which offers an aperitivo menu three days a week at its cocktail lounge, Caletta. “You don’t see people out as late as you normally would since the pandemic.”
A cheeseburger and fries, the rigatoni all Amatriciana, and croquettes are all part of the aperitivo menu at Caletta in Fishtown.
Aperitivo is also more casual, less hurried, and lower pressure than a sit-down dinner or an after-work date. Reservations aren’t required, and it’s not uncommon to see friends popping in and out for a drink or kids joining family at the table.
“It’s a lot easier to roll into aperitivo with a stroller and get a glass of wine with kids while you are catching up with friends rather than going to a bar,” said Chris DiPiazza of the South Philly bakery Mighty Bread, which started offering aperitivo hour in August 2024.
Apéro is also “a marathon, not a sprint,” said Chloé Grigri, whose bars Superfolie, the Good King Tavern, Le Caveau, and Supérette all offer some version of late afternoon drink and food deals year-round. For Grigri, the purpose is less about pushing discounts so customers can drink more than it is about finding ways to intertwine French culture with happy hour. In Bella Vista, for example, the Good King Tavern is expanding daily apéro deals from 3 to 6 p.m. during the World Cup games (and beyond) to include discounted charcuterie, tartines, and “Frenchie-Americana” drink specials like Suze and Mountain Dew highballs and whiskey and Kronenburg citywides. “It’s the sort of thing you’d stumble across in Paris today in my opinion, but better,” she said.
The Americano? Americano!, a vermouth cocktail that’s available only during aperitivo at Caletta.
Still, prices at aperitivo tend to hover at $8 to $16 — roughly between the cost of a beer or glass of wine — which can attract customers during slower weekday business hours, said Le Virtù general manager Chris O’Brien. In the restaurant on East Passyunk Avenue’s monthly wine club newsletter, O’Brien said that 2026 has been “our busiest year on record by a long shot” with an uptick in patio reservations, where its all-you-can-eat northern Italian aperitivo events take place.
Similarly at Fishtown’s Caletta, Kirk said he’s seen a midweek bump with more guests requesting aperitivo hours even during offseason months. Grigri also noted the timing of the World Cup this summer has worked well for her businesses across the board. “Le Caveau had an immediate noticeable uptick,” in business, she said, alongside Good King Tavern and Supérette, where aperó has had a steadier and slower build. “It’s about getting people in right before our normal busy hours,” said Grigri.
Here are eight places to sip, linger, and graze al fresco for aperitivo in Philly.
Outdoor seating at Caletta, which offers an aperitivo menu from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays.
Where to find aperitivo in Philly
Caletta
Caletta’s patio aperitivo (Wednesday through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m.) transports you from a quiet Fishtown block to the Mediterranean coastline. At this hotel bar, the cocktails include split-based, lower ABV drinks that use house-made liqueur blends and fortified wines, like the “Americano? Americano!,” which includes a mix of coffee liqueur, sweet vermouth, red bitters, orange, and olive. A bonus: Your first drink comes with a complimentary salty snack dish of mixed nuts, roasted peppers, or salami with house-made focaccia.
📍1401 E. Susquehanna Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19125, 📞267-682-8253 🌐 calettafishtown.com
A selection of complimentary aperitivo snacks alongside two cocktails at Sorellina, 699 N. Broad St.
Sorellina
At owner Joe Cicala’s casual pizzeria in the Divine Lorraine, aperitivo is baked into the regular menu. Every table gets a few olives and tuna-stuffed peppers to snack on while deciding what to order for dinner. Italian-style bitter cocktails, imported beers, and amari anchor the bar program, though Cicala has noticed more customers ordering nonalcoholic bitter sodas — perhaps influenced by summer Euro trips, he noted.
Banshee’s dedicated aperitivo section features Spanish-style small plates of croquettas and patatas bravas, among others, plus drink specials from 5 to 6 p.m. daily. The Mediterranean-inspired bar in Graduate Hospital folds cocktails from Spain (Kalimotxo), France (Kir), and Italy (the not-discounted-but-still-excellent Spring Americano with strawberry vermouth and rhubarb aperitivo) into one concise menu. Our recommendation: Order everything, including a side of the house-made sourdough.
📍1600 South St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19146 📞 267-876-8346 🌐 bansheephl.com
A spread of stuzzichini (bite-size appetizers from Northern Italy) at one of Le Virtú’s summertime aperitivo events.
Le Virtù
For a glimpse of more communal-style aperitivo, East Passyunk’s Le Virtù hosts one-off seasonal patio gatherings throughout the summer that draw from the culture of Abruzzo, Italy, where owner Francis Cratil-Cretarola is from. Programming — typically on a Wednesday, weekend afternoon, or early evening — is lightly curated with unlimited buffet-style stuzzichini (bite-sized northern Italian appetizers) for $35 and $14 wines by the glass in collaboration with a rotating mix of producers and importers. Follow @levirtuphila on Instagram for upcoming events.
This retail shop, tasting room, and cocktail bar adjacent to the Gayborhood lets you choose your aperitivo experience — order a drink and stay awhile or buy bottled-in-state products for at-home concoctions. Either way, you can’t go wrong with its “Slayborhood Spritz,” featuring Apologue persimmon liqueur, Kyro pink gin, prosecco, and club soda or a lemon herbaceous amaro with Fast Penny Spirits Americano Bianca.
Light bites and negroni cocktails from Irwin’s aperitivo menu, which runs Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.
Irwin’s
Nothing beats a rooftop hang — especially with classic Sicilian drinks and snacks. Irwin’s, just across the hall from Bok Bar, hosts aperitivo hour inside and out on the roof every Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. during the summer. Everything on the menu is $13 or less: Negroni cocktails, charcuterie and formaggi, anchovies, tomato pie, and eggplant caponata (a chef Michael Ferreri family recipe for an antipasto vegetable stew).
This James Beard Award-nominated South Philly bakery is home to a family-friendly aperitivo. On weekdays year-round (except Tuesdays) from 4 to 6 p.m. you can enjoy Philly-Italian bites, cocktails, beer, and wine inside or in the courtyard. Snacks highlight bread in various forms: “Mighty Munch” with baguette chips, candied nuts, and seasoned pretzel chips; focaccia; and scallop toast with fermented aji chili butter. There are easy-sippers with Pennsylvania-made spirits, too, like Char & Stave coffee Amaro and soda, a ready-to-drink sparkling wine spritz, and Mighty Bread’s own Italian semolina pilsner, Amici Del Pane.
A snack board at Supérette, a restaurant, bottle shop, and wine bar on East Passyunk Avenue.
Supérette
Supérette captures that quintessential French-style apéro energy: Customers drift in and out the door, shopping for natural wine in the bottle shop or sipping highballs at the bar. The day-to-night vibes at Chloe Grigi’s épicerie and wine bar on East Passyunk Avenue invite spontaneous meetups fueled by olives, mini-chip-filled jambon-and-beurre sandwiches, and Frenchie disco fries (aka nachos with shredded cheese, local spam, cornichon relish, and crème fraîche). Better yet: Apéro is every weekday year-round from 3 to 6 p.m.
NovaCare Rehabilitation’s parent company, Select Medical Holdings Corp., was taken private in $3.9 billion private equity deal this week.
NovaCare has more than 100 physical therapy locations in the Philadelphia region, including some through a partnership with Rothman Orthopaedics.
For 25 years, NovaCare sponsored the Philadelphia Eagles practice complex in South Philadelphia. Jefferson Health took over the sponsorship this year.
Top management joined private-equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe in the acquisition of Select Medical, which is based in Mechanicsburg, Pa. The sale was completed Wednesday. The price per share was $16.50 per share, an 18% premium to the latest close before the deal was announced in November.
In addition to outpatient physical therapy through NovaCare and other subsidiaries at 1,850 locations in 36 states, Select Medical operates 104 long-term acute-care hospitals in 28 states and 38 rehabilitation hospitals in 15 states. The company has more than 45,000 employees and had $5.5 billion in revenue last year.
Select Medical acquired NovaCare in 1999. Publicly traded NovaCare fell on hard times because of Medicare reimbursement changes under the federal Budget Reconciliation Act in 1997. The law capped reimbursement for speech, physical, and occupational therapy in nursing homes.
The company, then headquartered in King of Prussia, lost $700 million in annual revenue because of those changes, The Inquirer reported at the time.
A teenager who authorities say killed a Penn State student surrendered to Philadelphia police on Thursday, one day after U.S. marshals captured a second teen wanted in the slaying more than 1,700 miles from the South Philadelphia street where the crime occurred.
Smith and Azzubair Outen-Fleming, 16, are expected to face charges of murder, robbery, criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of a firearm, and related crimes in the June 6 death of William “Billy” Schmidt.
Both teens had been on the run until Wednesday night, authorities said, when members of the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Outen-Fleming at a house in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Smith remained at large until Thursday.
Police have said Outen-Fleming and Smith killed Schmidt, 22, shortly after 1 a.m. as he walked toward his South Philadelphia home.
According to prosecutors, surveillance video captured two masked people — identified by investigators as Outen-Fleming and Smith — robbing Schmidt of his cell phone, searching his pockets, and then, moments later, shooting him.
Smith, they said, is accused of firing the fatal shot.
The teenagers fled after the shooting, police said.
On Wednesday, prosecutors also announced charges against Outen-Fleming’s stepfather, Donte Abdulmalik, who they said helped him evade authorities after the killing.
Abdulmalik was charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, and related crimes.
Deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service’s Violent Offender Task Force tracked Outen-Fleming this week to a house in southern Colorado Springs with “ties to his family in Philadelphia,” Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark said. After conducting surveillance, deputies arrested him there late Wednesday.
Schmidt’s father, William, did not return a phone call Thursday afternoon, and attempts to reach other family members were unsuccessful.
Philadelphia police spokesperson Sgt. Eric Gripp said it was not clear when Outen-Fleming would be returned to Philadelphia.
Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers for season one of “Task.”
The cast and crew of the HBO crime drama Task will descend on Manayunk next week to begin filming Season 2, according to notices posted around the neighborhood and on a local Facebook group.
The company Random Productions wrote that filming is scheduled for July 7-9, when certain streets will be closed to accommodate trailers, equipment vehicles, cast, and crew members. Parking restrictions, however, will begin earlier on specific blocks, starting Sunday, July 5.
“We will try to keep these closures as minimal as possible and will not prevent residents from accessing driveways or parking lots,” the notices state.
Actors Tom Pelphrey (left) and Mark Ruffalo, from HBO’s “Task,” do interviews before the Philadelphia Eagles game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Philadelphia.
What fans need to know
The Mark Ruffalo-led series from Mare of Easttown creator and Berwyn resident Brad Ingelsby will again center on the dogged and empathetic FBI agent Tom Brandis, this time as he spearheads a new task force where, as the logline reads, “the deeper the operation runs, the harder it is to tell who’s the target.”
Brandis’ rival this season will be Philadelphia DEA agent Eddie Barnes, played by Mahershala Ali, the Oscar winner who starred in Moonlight, Green Book, and the 2019 HBO crime show True Detective. (Season 1 saw Brandis face off against robber Robbie Prendergrast, played to critical acclaim by Ozark actor Tom Pelphrey, who grew up in Howell Township, N.J.)
Joining Ali as fellow DEA agents are Pillion and Harry Potter actor Henry Melling, who will play a hothead named Brennan Boylan; The Assassination of Gianni Versace star Edgar Ramirez, cast as second-in-command Miguel Contreras, described as a “devoted family man … torn between duty and guilt”; and Star City actor Adam Nagaitis, playing loyal agent Luke Clemmons.
On the FBI side, 1923 actor Aminah Nieves will play Nataly Zamora, who Deadline described as “a no-nonsense FBI agent and dedicated young mother who fights hard to protect the community that raised her.”
It’s not yet clear whether other cast members from Season 1 will return. That includes Silvia Dionicio and Phoebe Fox, who played Brandis’ daughters, and Andrew Russel, their incarcerated brother who killed their mother accidentally during a schizophrenic episode. The emotional and bittersweet finale concluded with Brandis testifying at his son’s trial and affirming that he would be welcome home whenever he’s released.
Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) hugs his family after his son Ethan’s parole hearing in the “Task” finale.
Season 1 received millions of viewers — and, of course, a strong Philadelphia following — with the finale alone reaching an audience of 4 million in the U.S. within three days of airing. HBO has said that Task was one of its “top three fastest-growing, debut seasons.” Viewership overall outpaced Ingelsby’s Emmy-winning Mare of Easttown, which broke HBO viewership records in 2021 and may return for a second season. (It’s likely that Task, too, will receive Emmy Awards attention when nominations are announced July 8.)
Returning to Task behind the scenes are South Philadelphia native Jeremiah Zagar, who was a director and executive producer on Season 1; the son of late Philadelphia mosaicist Isaiah Zagar will serve as executive producer. Ruffalo will again executive produce the show, alongside Ingelsby and others, including Mare of Easttown executive producer Mark Roybal.
The first season of Taskfilmed in and around Philadelphia, including Delaware, Montgomery, and Chester Counties, and further out into rural Pennsylvania. Creator Inglesby has proudly said that the show is a Delco story, and his team aims for authentic portrayals of the region, down to the signature Delco accent.
Part of that effort means hiring local crews and background actors. In Season 1, the production hired 777 Pennsylvanians as cast and crew for 177 days, investing $230 million in the regional economy.
Actor Mark Ruffalo (right in black suit) shoots for the HBO series ‘Task’ at the Delaware County Government Center and Courthouse on June 17, 2024.
Last fall, Task received a record-breaking $49.8 million tax credit from Pennsylvania, the highest amount the state has ever granted a single production. HBO estimates that Season 2 will bring some 3,700 jobs to the state and the studio expects to invest an estimated $194.1 million in Pennsylvania’s economy as it pays for local crews and hotel accommodations, among other expenses.
Kensington-based casting agency Heery Loftus has led local casting efforts for the show, most recently announcing a call for “Latino men who can portray organized crime figures” and “men and women of all ethnicities who can portray law enforcement personnel.”
A premiere date for Season 2 has not yet been announced.
“Task” showrunner Brad Ingelsby and star Mark Ruffalo on set.
What Manayunk residents need to know
Per two notices from Random Productions, “No Parking” signs will be posted on these streets during these dates:
Sunday, July 5 at 6 p.m. to Wednesday, July 8 at 11 p.m.:
Cresson Street between Cotton Street and Gay Street
Monday, July 6 at 6 p.m. to Wednesday, July 8 at 11 p.m.:
Grape Street between Silverwood Street and Cresson Street
Levering Street between Cresson Street and Silverwood Street
Cotton Street between Cresson Street and Main Street
Main Street between Cotton Street and Levering Street
Grape Street between Main Street and Cresson Street
Levering Street between Main Street and Cresson Street
Wednesday, July 8 at 6 p.m. to Thursday, July 9 at 10 p.m.:
Dupont Street between High Street and Smick Street
Baker Street between Dupont Street and Green Lane
Baker Street between Dupont Street and Mallory Street
These streets will be closed during these dates and approximate times:
Tuesday, July 7 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Wednesday, July 8 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.:
Grape Street between Silverwood Street and Cresson Street
Cresson Street between Cotton Street and Gay Street
Thursday, July 9 from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.:
Dupont Street between Smick Street and High Street
Please note: This breakdown of parking restrictions and street closures may not be comprehensive as the company released multiple neighborhood notices.
A teen wanted in the shooting death of Penn State student William “Billy” Schmidt in South Philadelphia last month was apprehended in Colorado, the U.S. Marshals Service said Wednesday night.
Azzubair Outen-Fleming, 16, was taken into custody in Colorado Springs at the home of a distant relative, the U.S. Marshals Service said. The teen was being housed at the Zebulon Pike Youth Center awaiting extradition to Philadelphia.
Earlier on Wednesday, District Attorney Larry Krasner announced the arrest of Outen-Fleming’s stepfather for allegedly hindering the police investigation into the slaying of Schmidt.
Donte Abdulmalik, 35, was charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, and related crimes, Krasner said Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Abulmalik helped his stepson leave the city. He is not accused of participating in the homicide.
The teens will face charges of murder, robbery, criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of a firearm, and related offenses, Krasner said.
He suggested that the investigation could involve others, describing the charges against the two teenagers and Abdulmalik as “a smaller part of a bigger picture.”
“I am not telling you that these are the only people involved,” Krasner said during a news conference Wednesday. “I’m not telling you that this investigation is over or that we have all the answers yet.”
Philadelphia police have said Schmidt was walking home when two masked people approached him. During what investigators say was an attempted robbery, one of the suspects — whom Krasner identified as Smith — shot Schmidt.
Surveillance camera footage shows that one suspect took Schmidt’s phone, prosecutors said Wednesday, then rifled through his pockets before knocking him to the ground.
Additional footage later shows Schmidt walking behind the suspects, before one throws a phone down the block and the other fires a bullet into Schmidt’s chest.
Krasner declined to say whether the gun used to kill Schmidt had been recovered.
Investigators say surveillance cameras captured the suspects before and after the shooting. One was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with a hand-drawn “KONFUSED” logo and a skull-and-crossbones sketched in black marker on the front, according to the footage. After the shooting, police said, both suspects fled wearing white T-shirts.
Philadelphia police and the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force are searching for the remaining teenager. Both agencies have offered rewards for information leading to the arrests of both teens. Krasner said Smith has ties to Philadelphia’s Point Breeze neighborhood and Delaware.
Anyone with information may contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-866-865-8477 or submit a tip online through its website: usmarshals.gov. Tips can also be provided to Philadelphia police at 215-686-3334 or 215-686-8477.
🍦 Stella’s Ice Cream out of Idaho (yes, Idaho) just opened on Front Street in Fishtown/Kensington, and Bea has the early scoop.
🍦 Winners, rocking a feel-good message, is new on South Street in Graduate Hospital. As Kiki Aranita says, Winners’ appeal is more than just the flavors, like Sweet Success S’mores.
🍦Our guide to our favorite ice cream is right here.
Critic Craig LaBan is back from his annual Jersey Shore exploration, and he’s shaking the sand out of his notebook. In Part One of his roundup, he heads to the mainland to find some gems. Read that here.
Looking ahead: Part Two, Craig’s reviews from Long Beach Island and thereabouts, will be online this weekend. On July 11, he’ll share his discoveries from points farther south in Part Three.
Ember & Ash on East Passyunk Avenue will be closed for an undetermined period after smoke and flames shot up through the ventilation last week just after closing time. No injuries were reported.
This weekend will see the debut of Broad Street Beer Garden at LOVE Park, the first phase of a planning reuse of the so-called flying saucer building at 16th and JFK. Here’s the long history of the city landmark.
We munched on fried silverfish that reminded us of French fries in Little Saigon, Argentine empanadas in West Philly, and a vegan po’ boy in Old City that tasted like the original.
Scoops
Intrigue! Albert Zheng, whose holdings include Javelin in Fairmount, is backing a yet-to be-named dual concept on the way to 808 Chestnut St., formerly a Dunkin’ Donuts. In front, the feature will be wagyu omakase, while the rear will be what he calls a Cambodian speakeasy. He says it’s six or seven months out.
Mylar Bar, a cocktail bar inspired by the spirit of South Philly’s Dino’s Party Center, is expected to open later this summer from hospitality veterans Liv Arterbridge and Gina Piccari. They bought the former building at Ninth and Morris Streets where Dino’s sold balloons, decorations, and party supplies for decades before it moved across the street. “We want the whole thing to feel like a party,” Arterbridge said. “Nostalgic, fun, a little silly, intentionally unserious — but not a theme bar,” Piccari said. Cocktails will include martinis, punches, and classic drinks, alongside draft beer and familiar favorites. A full kitchen, led by chef Colin White, formerly of Sally and Emmett, will serve shareable “party snacks” and larger plates. They plan to offer late-night desserts, so food will be available until 1 a.m. with the bar wrapping at 2. Arterbridge, whose resume includes Cry Baby, Poison Heart, and a.bar, met Piccari while working at Boot & Saddle, where Piccari was manager. Piccari is now behind the bar at Le Virtù.
Restaurant report
Sixteen restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and bars — including Lillian’s, shown above — are opening in July. Read on for the rundown.
Penny’s Bagels, on its way (for the last two years) to 212 Kings Highway East in Haddonfield, will hand out 250 red, white, and blue bagels on July 3 at the borough’s parade. The shop is eyeing an August opening, says owner Chris Fetfatzes.
Maru, a fast-casual Korean-inspired restaurant from David Backhus and the team behind the now-closed Oori, is expected to open in August in what is now Collective Coffee & Bakery, which Backhus also owns, at 2922 Conestoga Rd. in Glenmoore. Maru’s menu will feature Korean fried chicken sandwiches, wings, tenders, house-made mochi doughnuts, and specialty coffee, while continuing to serve Collective Coffee and honor existing coffee subscriptions.
Briefly noted
Ota-Ya in Newtown has announced that Friday will be its last day after 30 years with the retirement of owners Jeff Wong and Cindy Tam.
PETA is launching its “Nice Cream Trail,” highlighting 10 shops across the state serving vegan ice cream, and there are five local spots on the list: Dreams Ice Cream Factory in Glenside, Lu & Aug’s in Ardmore, the Main Freeze in Lansdale, Milk Jawn in South Philadelphia and Northern Liberties, and Scoop DeVille in Center City and Queen Village. The first Pennsylvania resident to complete the trail by visiting all 10 participating shops through August will win a vegan ice cream party with PETA’s “iScream” truck for themselves and up to 50 guests. Details are here.
Two local BBQ chefs, Matt Groark (Medford Lakes, N.J.) and Maxwell McGibbon (Newark, Del.), are competing on Food Networks’ Pitmasters, premiering July 13 at 9 p.m.
Diner en Blanc registration is still open. This year’s version of the pop-up picnic is Aug. 20.
Miller’s Ale House, in the shopping center next to the Home Depot in Springfield, Delaware County, closed this week after 13 years, while Fishtown is abuzz with speculation that Bottle Bar East, which opened at 1308 Frankford Ave. around the same time in late 2012, has closed. The phone is down, and owners could not be reached for comment
When is Adda ever going to open in Fishtown? — Rich C.
True, Adda has been a long time coming, since I initially wrote about it in June 2025 with an end-of-2025 target. Adda — from New York City’s Unapologetic Foods, whose establishments are acclaimed for their bold, no-holds-barred approach to Indian cooking — is now looking at a late-fall opening at 1700 Frankford Ave., the new building across from the Fishtown post office.
Corrigendum: Reader Stephanie points out that Kalaya is the third Philadelphia restaurant, not the second, to win the James Beard Award for outstanding restaurant, as I wrote two weeks ago. Zahav was the first in 2019, while Friday Saturday Sunday won in 2023.
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If you were to distill the energy of a South Philly summer into a cocktail, it might look like water ice shaken with vodka in a martini glass, garnished with a pretzel stick. It would taste like the syrupy-sweet melted ice left in the cup and be crushable enough to knock back on a hot afternoon.
That’s the water ice martini, a cocktail invented in the early 2000s at one of the neighborhood’s most famous red sauce joints. The drink was a hidden gem for decades, but has found new life this summer as copycats and riffs emerge at bars around Philly and down the Shore that are looking to stand out in a sea of Hugo spritzes, espresso ‘tinis, and soft serve margaritas.
“Anyone that’s grown up in South Philadelphia grew up on water ice with pretzel sticks and pumpkin seeds. Its been a thing in my family for three generations,” said Vera Masi, the sales manager at Popi’s Restaurant in Packer Park, where the cocktail recently went viral. “Pairing that with a martini is a guaranteed hit.”
The first water ice martini on record was poured in 2002 at Saloon by Anthony Cardullo, the third-generation John’s Water Ice owner who was then just a bartender. Called the Iceberg, the drink involves adding a scoop of John’s lemon water ice to a shaker with limoncello and Ketel One Citreon vodka. It then gets poured over a second scoop of lemon water ice in a glass.
Gigi Bello, bar manager at Saloon, makes an Iceberg martini using lemon water from John’s. The cocktail has remained a bestseller since they started serving it in 2002.
It’s the restaurant’s most enduring cocktail hit, according to manager Frankie Santore. Saloon sells at least 150 Icebergs per week in the summer, he said, making it their bestseller. To keep up, Cardullo has to drop off gallons of fresh made water ice each week.
Other versions have cycled through Saloon — a pineapple ice painkiller and a melon ice midori sour, to name a few— but the Iceberg is the only one that has lasted, most recently inspiring a dupe that uses Cardullo’s recipe at the Ventnor Social in New Jersey. The restaurant has “never for a second” thought to use anything other than John’s water ice for its cocktails.
“It’s all fresh fruit,” Santore said. “Anthony’s squeezing the lemons himself.”
Gigi Bello, bar manager at Saloon, pours an Iceberg martini.
Popi’s started serving their own versions of the water ice martini last summer after getting the idea from Rowhome Magazine editors Dorette Jackson and Dawn Rhodes. The 33-year-old Italian restaurant sources its water ice from Pop’s for two reasons, owner Gina Rucci said: It’s down the street, and “our names went together.”
Popi’s has its own version of a lemon ice martini (aptly called the Limoncellotini), but its other offerings pull from the colors of the rainbow, like a neon orange mango water ice martini called the Gritty and a vibrant red strawberry water ice daiquiri. The restaurant used to sell about 20 a day last summer, said bar manager Laura Kreschollek. Now, they’re averaging 50.
“People were coming in just for these,” said Masi. “We kept running out of water ice and were sneaking out to Pop’s in the middle of the day.”
A strawberry daiquiri made with Pop’s Homemade Italian Ice at Popi’s Restaurant, 3120 S. 20th St.
Naturally, the evolution would continue with spiked gelati. Philly could get its first in the early fall, when James Beard Award-winning South Jersey bartender Danny Childs aims to open his bar Field Day in Northern Liberties.
Childs told The Inquirer he plans to serve the treat year round using his signature Slow Drinks approach. While the vanilla soft serve will come from 1-900-ICE-CREAM, Childs said, the boozy water ice will be made from scratch with local and foraged produce that change with the season. He’s envisioning a lineup of cherry, blueberry, and pawpaw (a fruit native to the Mid-Atlantic that tastes like a mango) to start.
The cocktail-dessert hybrid was driven by a mix of nostalgia and peer pressure. Childs wanted a nod to his childhood in Delaware County, where he grew up using a soft pretzel as a spoon to scoop up water ice. He also wanted to one-up the alcohol-infused ice creams already on the market.
“I was like, ‘Someone is going to do spiked gelati before us,’” Childs said. ”We have to hurry.”
The Iceberg martini from Saloon, which was created by current John’s Water Ice owner Anthony Cardullo.
Here are four places where you can find boozy water ice in all its forms, from vodka-infused scoops to martinis.
Where to find boozy water ice in Philly
Saloon
This classic Italian joint in Bella Vista has been serving its signature $18 Iceberg martini since 2002, when current John’s Water Ice owner Anthony Cardullo invented it while working at the restaurant’s bar. It does indeed look like icebergs disintegrating into the Arctic as it melts, but the drink goes down easy — sweet, icy, and citrusy without tasting artificial. Also be on the lookout for Cardullo’s nightly water ice cocktail specials.
A lineup of water ice martinis made with Pop’s homemade Italian ice at Popi’s Restaurant. Clockwise from left: The Pineapple Pizzaz, Limoncellotini, piña colada, strawberry daiquiri, and the Gritty.
Popi’s Restaurant
At Popi’s, the pours are heavy and the water ice is extra sweet. This 33-year-old Italian restaurant near the sports complex in Packer Park gained a new reputation in 2025 when it started serving brightly colored cocktails sweetened with Pop’s homemade Italian ice. Normally $16 and $20 during the World Cup, the cocktails run the gamut from the Gritty (a vodka martini with orange juice and mango water ice) and Pineapple Pizzaz (a pineapple vodka martini with pineapple water ice) to a strawberry daiquiri with a disk of — you guessed it — strawberry water ice floating in the middle. If you’re not susceptible to a sugar rush, it’s easy to have several in one sitting.
Best known for its excellent vegan wings and cheesesteaks, Triangle Tavern also serves scratch-made boozy water ice year round. Flavors rotate seasonally and range from mango and pomegranate in the summer to pumpkin spice in the fall and crisp peppermint in the winter. Spun in a slushie machine with a handle of vodka, the $12 cocktails are served in a pint glass garnished with a hard pretzel rod for an extra dose of South Philly flair.
The Philly Phreeze sundae at Tipsy Scoop in Rittenhouse Square, which is comprised of vodka-infused cherry water ice topped with gummy candies.
Tipsy Scoop
This New York City-based ice cream chain has been infusing ice cream and sorbet with alcohol since 2013. After opening its first Philly outpost inside the Rittenhouse Square BOTLD location, the brand added a cherry water ice spiked with vodka to its menu. Our suggestion: Order the $14 sundae version — which comes topped with chewy cherry and pineapple gummies in a novelty cup — and consider springing for the chilled vodka shooter. It’s entirely too much in the best way possible, and the water ice is delightful despite being made by a New Yorker. Red enough to stain your tongue, it tastes like a handful of maraschino cherries.
Philadelphia students are among the friendly faces welcoming the expected more than 1 million visitors to the city this summer.
Youth from Ss. Neumann Goretti High School and Girard Academic Music Program are official staff greeting tourists and giving directions and Philly recommendations over six weeks.
Planning for the huge undertaking of celebrating America’s 250th birthday in its birthplace began years ago, and Kathryn Ott Lovell, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation, knew that she needed reinforcements.
“It was going to be hard to scale our mission and reach as an organization, short of building a visitor center on every corner,” said Lovell.
Enter the Phambassadors, a corps of 10,000 Philadelphians who volunteer to be a welcome wagon of sorts for the tourists arriving in town, some of whom were trained via a Philly-themed boot camp. Lovell, who “was born with this irrational love for Philly,” she said, arbitrarily picked the number 10,000, she said, hoping to attract that number of volunteers by the end of the year. The Philadelphia Visitor Center got there months ahead of schedule.
And when Lovell heard that Neumann Goretti had launched a hospitality program, creating the Youth Phambassador corps felt like a natural extension, both as a way to expand the welcome wagon and a means to help develop the next generation of tourism and hospitality professionals.
Lovell, Philadelphia’s former Parks and Recreation Commissioner, wanted to make it a paid opportunity, a city summer program with training and a stipend for participating students. Twenty Neumann Goretti students signed on, plus six students from GAMP, the South Philadelphia magnet school.
Training was held this month for the 26 Youth Phambassadors to learn both soft skills and hard skills — customer service, visitor engagement, and even citizen diplomacy via the World Affairs Council.
The Youth Phambassadors, who are working with an adult supervisor, are stationed both inside the Visitor Center at Sixth and Market Streets and around the historic district.
The hope is to have the students show off the city, but also “that it’s a portal into the hospitality and tourism world for the kids as they have a really wonderful experience,” Lovell said.
